Bible Brain Teaser
Before you begin, you need to know that there really
are 21 Bible book names hidden in the paragraph below
I once made a remark about the hidden books of the
Bible. It was a lulu, kept people looking so hard for
facts. For others it was a real revelation. Some were in
a jam, especially since the names of the books are not
capitalized. But the truth finally struck home to
numbers of readers. It should be a most fascinating
few moments for you. Yes, there are some books that
will be a hard job to find, but those are the most fun.
Can a human being really find all twenty-one of them?
At the worst, you should find fifteen. No defect in the
genes is required, although I will admit it usually takes
a minister to find one of them and there will be loud
lamentations when it is found. What will keep you from
answering this challenge? A little lady says she brews a
cup of tea so she can concentrate better. How long
you keep working on it only you can judge, so long as
you try to compete. Remember, we've had fun seeking
out 21 books of the Bible, but it is by far more
important to "seek first his kingdom and his
righteousness." It's always true, God loves you.
Bible Brain Teaser Answers
"Used by permission. The GOOD BOOK Company
(www.halcyon.com/gbc)".
SHAKE IT OFF AND STEP UP
A parable is told of a farmer who owned an old mule. The mule fellinto the
farmer's well. The farmer heard the mule 'braying' - or whatever mules do when
they fall into wells. After carefully assessing the situation, the farmer
sympathized with the mule, but decided that neither the mule nor the well was
worth the trouble of saving. Instead, he called his neighbors together and told
them what had happened... and enlisted them to help haul dirt to bury the old
mule in the well and put him out of his misery.
Initially, the old mule was hysterical! But as the farmer and his neighbors
continued shoveling and the dirt hit his back... a thought struck him. It
suddenly dawned on him that every time a shovel load of dirt landed on his back
HE WOULD SHAKE IT OFF AND STEP UP! This he did, blow after blow. "Shake it off
and step up!" he repeated to encourage himself. No matter how painful the blows,
or distressing the situation seemed the old mule fought panic and just kep right
on SHAKING IT OFF AND STEPPING UP!
You're right! It wasn't long before the old mule, battered and exhausted,
STEPPED TRIUMPHANTLY OVER THE WALL OF THAT WELL! What seemed like it would bury
him, actually blessed him. . . all because of the manner in which he handled his
adversity. THAT'S LIFE! If we face our problems and respond to them positively,
and refuse to give in to panic, bitterness, or self-pity. . . THE ADVERSITIES
THAT COME ALONG TO BURY US USUALLY HAVE WITHIN THEM THE POTENTIAL TO BENEFIT
AND BLESS US!
Remember that FORGIVENESS - - FAITH - - PRAYER - - PRAISE and HOPE. . . all
are excellent ways to "SHAKE IT OFF AND STEP UP" out of the wells in which we
find ourselves.
- author unknown
Modern America Custom-Grooming Murderous Kids
Point of View
By Bill Cripe
Copyright 1998 Guy Gannett Communications
It was the third fatal shooting rampage in a school in the past five months. An
alarm was activated at the Westside Middle School, but to everyone's shock the
bell became an open-fire alarm. Eleven-year-old Andrew Golden and 13-year-old
Mitchell Johnson systematically gunned down their classmates and teachers in
apremeditated assault. President Clinton offered his condolences and stated,
"We don't know now and we may never fully understand what could have driven two
youths to deliberately shoot into a crowd." A nearly endless stream of similarly
empty statements issued forth from news anchors and editorial writers around
the country, asking the question, How could this type of thing happen? At the
risk of being simplistic, let us take a broad overview of life, American-style,
1998. An egg is fertilized by a man's sperm - remembering that no significant
relationship necessarily exists in that process. Life begins and discounting
miscarriage, stands about a 50-50 chance of being aborted by the person carrying
the child. Assuming this child is brought to term, it comes into the world with
a high likelihood of never knowing who its father is; knowing who its father is,
but having no relationship with him; having a relationship with him only to have
it torn apart by divorce; or having a relationship, but a devastatingly negative
one.If the child should be fortunate enough to be born into an intact family
with one female mother and one male father, there is a better than 50-50 chance
the child will end up in day care to be raised by a hireling and a purple
dinosaur. With surrogate parents, the infant learns that the world is an unsafe
and unreliable place where its ability to survive will rest on its becoming
self-sufficient, trusting no one. Coming of age, the child is sent to a public
school where children of every imaginable capability and incapability are
mainstreamed together in one classroom. The teacher's goal is primarily
containment, secondarily socialization, and somewhere down the list a bit of
education might take place. In school, the child will learn that he has all the
rights, authority is a joke and there is no one to fear. He will come to
understand that slothfulness is rewarded to nearly the same degree that true
accomplishment is recognized, and the idea of attaining to some legitimate level
of proficiency - never mind excellence - is a non-issue, since remediation is
not a possibility. This child will come to understand that he is merely a highly
evolved animal who shares the planet with creatures lower down the food chain.
Since animals are driven by urges and instincts, the child will have a thorough
understanding of his sexuality knowing the etiology of sexually transmitted
diseases as well as demonstrating the ability to locate, purchase and use the
right kind of condoms. The child will mature with the realization that there is
almost nothing that is forbidden to one's pleasure-seeking nature, with the
exception of smoking, which has become about the only thing that is considered
an immoral choice that one can make today. The child will understand that all
we knew of recorded history was wrong and that the problem with the world is the
domination of strong, white, European males who forced their culture on the rest.
As an American, today's child will believe he is in some way responsible for
most of the world's past evils, yet will see that today, no one is responsible
for anything. His revised history reveals that America was not only a godless
country at its roots, but that Americans were relentlessly brutal and vicious to
the always peaceful nature-children of native America, and that anyone having
more than two children today is a selfish rapist of our hallowed Mother Earth.
The child will know that dolphins are next to godliness, that the life of a baby
whale is more precious in the sight of Gaia than any 10 homo sapiens and any
understanding of God is whoever, or whatever, they might wish it to be. That
boys and girls are the same is the driving force of their sociology, and the
only truly evil or wicked act is having a conscience and conviction that is
biblically informed. If the child happens to be among the declining remnant
whose family makes a somewhat regular Sunday pilgrimage, chances are better than
average that his religious experience will be one in which his beliefs are
validated, regardless of what those beliefs happen to be, and he will be
promised blessing in the practice of his faith as long as he stands for
nothing. Oregon is killing its aged, America is killing its pre-born and
intercourse is nothing more than what pushing someone on a swing used to be. Our
children are taught that they are the chance product of a slurry of chemicals
randomly combined and that life has no greater meaning or significance than to
make one's self feel good.
We call that which is good, evil, and that which is evil, good; oral sex and
the president are dinner-table fare and intelligent people have the effrontery
to ask how two children could blow away their classmates. Contrary to what you
always heard in school, there is such a thing as a stupid question, and that is
one of them.
Bill Cripe is minister of Faith Evangelical Free Church in Waterville, Maine.
Posted on April 20, 1999 (The day of the Littleton, Colorado,
massacre).
A STRANGER IN THE HOUSE
"A few months before I was born, my dad met a stranger who was new to our
small Tennessee town. From the beginning, Dad was fascinated with this
enchanting newcomer, and soon invited him to live with our family.
"The stranger was quickly accepted and was around to welcome me into the
world a few months later. As I grew up I never questioned his place in our
family. In my young mind, each member had a special niche. My brother, Bill,
five years my senior, was my example. Fran, my younger sister, gave me an
opportunity to play 'big brother' and develop the art of teasing. My parents
were complementary instructors -Mom taught me to love the word of God,
and Dad taught me to obey it. But the stranger was our storyteller. He could
weave the most fascinating tales. Adventures, mysteries, and comedies were
daily conversations. He could hold our whole family spellbound for hours
each evening. If I wanted to know about politics, history, or science he knew
it all. He knew about the past, understood the present, and seemingly could
predict the future. The pictures he could draw were so life-like that I would
often laugh or cry as I watched.
"He was like a friend to the whole family. He took Dad, Bill and me to our
first major league baseball game. He was always encouraging us to see the
movies and he even made arrangements to introduce us to several movie stars.
My brother and I were deeply impressed by John Wayne in particular. The
stranger was an incessant talker. Dad didn't seem to mind, but sometimes
Mom would quietly get up-- while the rest of us were enthralled with one of
his stories of faraway places--go to her room, read her Bible and pray. "I
wonder now if she ever prayed that the stranger would leave. You see, my dad
ruled our household with certain moral convictions. But this stranger never
felt obligation to honor them. Profanity, for example, was not allowed in our
house--not from us, from our friends, or adults. Our longtime visitor,
however, used occasional four letter words that burned my ears and made Dad
squirm. To my knowledge the stranger was never confronted.
My dad was a teetotaler who didn't permit alcohol in his home--not even for
cooking. But the stranger felt like we needed exposure and enlightened usn to
other ways of life. He offered us beer and other alcoholic beverages often.
He made cigarettes look tasty, cigars manly, and pipes distinguished.
"He talked freely (probably much too freely) about sex. His comments were
sometimes blatant, sometimes suggestive, and generally embarrassing. I know now
that my early concepts of the man-woman relationship were influenced by the
stranger. As I look back, I believe it was the grace of God that the stranger
did not influence us more. Time after time he opposed the values of my parents.
Yet he was seldom rebuked and never asked to leave. More than thirty years have
passed since the stranger moved in with the young family on Morningside Drive.
He is not nearly so intriguing to my dad as he was in those early years. But
if I were to walk into my parent's den today, you would still see him sitting
over in a corner, waiting for someone to listen to him talk and watch him draw
his pictures.
His name? We always just called him "TV."
Author Unknown
YOUR CROSS
The young man was at the end of his rope. Seeing no way out, he dropped to his
knees in prayer. "Lord, I can't go on," he said. "I have too heavy a cross to
bear." The Lord replied, "My son, if you can't bear its weight just place your
cross inside this room. Then, open that other door and pick out any cross you
wish." The man was filled with relief. "Thank you Lord," he sighed, and he
did as he was told. Upon entering the other door, he saw many crosses, some so
large the tops were not visible. Then, he spotted a tiny cross leaning against
a far wall. "I'd like that one, Lord," he whispered. And the Lord replied,
"My son, that is the cross you just brought in." When life's problems seem
overwhelming, it helps to look around and see what other people are coping
with. You may consider yourself far more fortunate than you imagined.
"YOUR CROSS"
Whatever your cross, whatever your pain.
There will always be sunshine after the rain,
Perhaps you may stumble, perhaps even fall,
But God's always ready to answer your call.
He knows every heartache, sees every tear,
A word from His lips can calm every fear.
Your sorrows may linger throughout the night,
But suddenly vanish at dawn's early light.
The savior is waiting somewhere above,
To give you His grace and send you His love.
Whatever your cross, whatever your pain,
God always sends rainbows after the rain.
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